This is exactly the direction Tim Schafer should go. Make something smaller that appeals to that niche fan base, really connect with that audience on a personal level. A Studio giving Tim Schafer ten million dollars is like saying, okay Tim, loose eight of that for us, but make sure it's brilliant, they want to support his genius, they have tried, core gamers just won't invest in it. His fans are a small enlightened cult, the core gamer that sits around and plays Call of Duty all weekend just does not understand, and now Schafer does not have to do a single thing to cater to them. It's brilliant, I like it.

There's something about Kickstarter that bugs me. I have no clue what that thing is, and I know it's silly, but I dunno. I love Tim Schafer and his games though, and I know this is going to be awesome.

They have broken $1.3 million. Who was that saying Double Fine sequels would never happen the other day? Was that Canti?

@UPSLynx: Is it possibly because it's very likely to either get you nothing, or get you waaaaay more than you're asking for? Or maybe because it's such an unorthodox way to get investors? The lack of accountability, perhaps? I dunno, but I've had good experiences so far as an investor, and I'll absolutely use it if I ever need to fund an interesting project.

@UPSLynx - At first something was nagging me about the Schafer / Kickstarter relationship. Maybe it's that Kickstarter, at least as I saw it was for the "little guy" to fund a project, and that somehow a bigger venture like Double Fine infringed on their space. Thinking more on it though, I can see this as the wave of the future for art. This could be huge.

Getting the suits out of the way of an artist could result in magic, not to mention a product that is true to the artists vision. No compromises have to be made for one giant investor that has way too much skin in the game. I'm keeping an open mind. I can't wait to see what they produce.

I quote Rush

"For the words of the profits were written on the studio wallConcert hallAnd echoes with the sound of salesmenOf salesmen, of salesmen"

They have broken $1.3 million. Who was that saying Double Fine sequels would never happen the other day? Was that Canti?

@UPSLynx: Is it possibly because it's very likely to either get you nothing, or get you waaaaay more than you're asking for? Or maybe because it's such an unorthodox way to get investors? The lack of accountability, perhaps? I dunno, but I've had good experiences so far as an investor, and I'll absolutely use it if I ever need to fund an interesting project.

From the two that I have participated in, you get either nothing (and pay nothing) or you get a semi-contractual agreement (I have no idea what the actual level of contract is, if extant at all), trading your cash for a level of service rendered (i.e. getting collector's editions or additional merchandise for paying more upfront). I see this as a more direct funding process and like it a lot. I don't care if it is the guy designing the next AAA title or a total indie job. Minecraft did it similarly, in that you got early access to beta versions and paid less for it!

Evidently I need to be more detailed. And I'm quite aware of what the definition of begging is.

Why do people beg? Because they can't get some resource in any other way, or the "other ways" defy practicality. Kickstarter runs on the same premise: people asking for money because they have no other way of getting their project complete without it.

It also works on trust. I give party XYZ money, and they promise to do something, and kickstarter turns that into products. Begging turns your money, hopefully at any rate, into something positive: food, clothing, shelter, whatever.

As in begging, this is an arrangement that may or may not pan out as anticipated.

I'm not saying Kickstarter is begging. I'm saying that there enough similarities in my book to understand why it may be a reason some people feel weird about the site and its projects.

Or it's a way to gauge interest in your project. You figure out how much your project will cost, set that (perhaps with a bit of a buffer) as your Kickstarter goal. Get the money? Enough people were interested. Don't meet it? Might not have worked anyway.

Take, for example, the band Five Iron Frenzy. They decided to re-form after eight years and produce an album. They needed $30,000 to pay for the costs. I guess a lot of people wanted this to happen; they reached their goal in 55 minutes. They held the record for the fastest project to reach its goal at the time (Nov 22, 2011). They hold the record for the most funded music project.

Five Iron Frenzy is doing their project without the benefit of a record label. Double Fine is doing their project without a publisher. The people that do the hard work reap the rewards, not some assholes who had little to nothing to do with the project. Kickstarter keeps 5% of funds raised (and they've probably covered expenses for the year thanks to Double Fine).

Welcome to the future. The middleman has just become an endangered species.

Edit: I also sincerely hope everyone involved with Double Fine's project gets a huge raise. Would be really cool to hear the project's success benefited everyone there in a huge way.